The Civil War Nurses

Posted on 21 February, 2011 by Janice Brown

During the War of the Rebellion, some would like to paint a picture of the male nurses being “thoroughly incompetent, and some of them brutal and indifferent,” while the women were “kindly and sympathetic.”  [quote from “Under the Red Cross Flag,” by Mabel Thorp Boardman].  To paint a picture of men or women as unilaterally at one end of the compassion spectrum or the other, would be a great disservice to history and the people who were part of it.

“From the stump of the arm, the amputated hand,
I undo the clotted lint, remove the slough, wash off the matter
     and blood,
Back on his pillow the soldier blends with curv'd neck and side-
     falling head,
His eyes are closed, his face is pale, he dares not look on the
     bloody stump,
And has not yet look'd on it.”
 —- Walt Whitman: in “Leaves of Grass,” 1897.

According to most Civil War accounts the male nurse ratio to that of women nurses was five to one.  And yet why is it generally thought that nursing was exclusively the occupation of women?  Hospital attendants sometimes wore a band of white cloth on their left sleeve to indicate their status. Civilians were also hired to assist with medical duties.  According to “American Civil War Armies,” by Philip R. N. Katcher, after 1862 these orderlies were required to wear “privates' uniforms that included a green half-chevron on the left forearm.”  Most women nurses were restricted to hospitals and were not allowed on the battlefield.

Among those men who served as nurses were Walt Whitman, the famous poet, and also my 2nd great-grandfather, Aaron Webster. 

.Walt Whitman. He first became aware of the horrific plight of the wounded soldier when his younger brother George Whitman was wounded in at the Battle of Fredericksburg. He hastened to the battlefield to find him. Then for three years Walt spent much of his time as a nurse, caring for the wounded in Washington D.C. hospitals. [The photograph above was taken in 1851, see link for source].


My 2nd great-grandfather, Aaron Webster, served as a private and nurse in the Union Army during the Civil War (in Company B of the 93rd PA Regiment). He was 44 years old, and he began serving on  12 November 1864. His official service documents state that he was a nurse-hospital attendant at City Point Virginia and the Defense of Washington D.C. He was mustered out 27 June 1865. [photograph immediately above]

My 2nd great-grandfather and Walt Whitman would have both been serving in Washington, D.C. hospitals at the same time. I can't help but wonder if their paths ever crossed.

“Then hear outside the orders given, Fall in, my men,
     Fall in;
But first I bend to the dying lad–his eyes open– a
     half-smile gives he me;
Then the eyes close, calmly close, and I speed for to
     the darkness,
Resuming, marching, as ever in darkness marching, on
     in the ranks
The unknown road still marching.” [–Walt Whitman, “Drum Taps,” p. 45]

Janice

*****************************************
**FAMILY TREES OF WALT WHITMAN and AARON WEBSTER**

Walt (Walter) Whitman, son of Walter and Louisa (Van Velsor) Whitman was born at West Hills, Long Island, New York on 31 May 1819. He died at Camden, New Jersey on 25 March 1892.

Aaron Webster, son John Martin & Polly (Graves) Webster, was born 20 December 1819 in Smithville, Chenango Co NY and died 30 July 1911 in Harrison, Potter Co., PA. He was a farmer. He married 3/8 October 1841 in Mills, Potter Co. PA to Nancy Thompson, and had 8 children who were born in Harrison and in Ulysses, Potter Co. PA.

Interestingly, Walt Whitman was a distant cousin to Aaron's Webster's wife, Nancy (Thompson) Webster.

Posted in History, Not New Hampshire, Poetry | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Celebrating New Hampshire Women Through History

Posted on 17 February, 2011 by Janice Brown

In March of 2006, I wrote my first blog article specifically about women, named “New Hampshire Women in History,” and eight years later not a great deal has changed.

RECAP of ALL WOMEN’S HISTORY ARTICLES: New Hampshire Women in History (published 2006, updated 2019) | Celebrating New Hampshire Women Through History (2011) (you are reading this)| Celebrating Women’s History in 2014 | National Women’s History Month: Weaving Stories in Granite (2015) | March 2016: Celebrating National Women’s History Month  | 2017 New Hampshire and National Woman’s History Month    | 2018 National Women’s History Month: NH WOMEN & WWI | Women’s History Month: New Hampshire’s Remarkable Women for 2019 | 2020 Recap: More Remarkable Women of New Hampshire |

I am still inspired by my grandmother’s love of history *and* the excitement she instilled in my father, which he in turn shared with me. I am still disappointed that more is not being done to promote our understanding of the contributions by New Hampshire women to our history and culture. There are a few exceptions, and I acknowledge them now–the New Hampshire Historical Society has offered exhibits and programs focused on women, the University of New Hampshire offers educational presentations on women OF UNH, and J. Dennis Robinson of Seacoastnh.com continues to write about Portsmouth and seacoast area women (and of course history specific and in general). The Manchester (NH) Historic Association offers highlights in their Millyard Museum on a few of the notable women from that city. Continue reading →

Posted in Carnivals and Memes, New Hampshire Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Predicting Valentine’s Day’s Soft Impeachments

Posted on 14 February, 2011 by Janice Brown

Sometimes, despite the best of efforts, our predictions end up out in the New Hampshire puckerbrush.

Early in 1858 the Pittsfield Sun newspaper announced that “statistics show conclusively that Valentines are going out of date. At the New York Post-Office, 14 years ago, the number of these missives received was about 20,000. A constant decline in their circulation has been noted since, until this year when it has scarcely exceeded 5000.”

Then later in 1875, New Hampshire “Farmer’s Cabinet” newspaper announced that “the custom of sending the ‘soft impeachments’ which was so popular a few years ago, is fast falling into disuse.” For those of you who were not born during the Victorian era, the term “soft impeachments” was used, in this case, to mean cards as they related to courtship, wooing, and serenading.

At last count (and the United States Census Bureau is a pretty good counter) 180 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion. This total excludes packaged kids valentines for classroom exchanges.

How could a prediction be so wrong?  To find out, take this “How Many Valentine’s Were Exchanged? Math Quiz.  Let me know how you did.

Janice

*Additional Reading*

–Anti-Valentines Day Forum–

Posted in Current Events, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

New Hampshire Glossary: Chirugeon

Posted on 9 February, 2011 by Janice Brown

Chirugeon, also written “chirurgeon,” was the name for a colonial surgeon. In addition to performing surgical operations they were able to pull teeth, set broken limbs, perform bleedings, and to provide simple preparations to produce vomiting (purging was a common practice). 

They often apprenticed to a butcher or a barber in order to learn their trade. Merchant and military ships usually had one or more chirugeon among their crew.

—CHIRUGEONS IN AMERICA AND NEW HAMPSHIRE—

One of the earliest records of a chirugeon in the American colonies, was that of Thomas Pell. In 1635/36 Captain David Lion Gardiner sailed from Boston to the mouth of the Connecticut River in the “Batchelor” with a garrison of men including Thomas Pell, 'one of the earliest medical men in America.' He used his skill to heal during the Pequot Wars.

In New Hampshire, the first chirugeon may have been Renald Fernald, born 1595 and died 1656 in Strawbery Banke (Portsmouth) NH.  He came over in company with others sent out by Capt. John Mason about 1630, and was surgeon of Mason's Colony in the New World. He also served Portsmouth as selectman and town clerk.

Robert Tuck, a noted chirugeon, emigrated from Gorlston, Suffolk England about the year 1636, and was among the first settlers in Hampton, New Hampshire. His great-grandson, Rev. John Tucke was the only paster ever ordained at the Isle of Shoals, and he is also buried there.

Walter Barefoot, Esquire, a chirugeon, arrived in New Hampshire about 1656 and died in 1688.  Deputy Governor of the Province of New Hampshire in 1686. Resided New Castle N.H.  “Dr. Walter Barefoot (or Barford, as the name is given in England) who came to Kittery, Maine, in 1656 or 1657, and for thirty years until his death, 1688, was said to be the most litigating and scandal-raising personage connected with the Piscataqua region, whether as doctor, captain, prisoner, prison-keeper, Deputy Governor, land speculator or Chief Justice. He was well-educated and wrote a good hand. He was a churchman, but a sturdy and quarrelsome supporter of the Stuart policy, while most of his neighbors were Puritans, so that the hard things…said of both Barefoote and Greenland need to be weighed in the light of these facts.”

—BEHAVIOR & TRAINING OF A CHIRUGEON—

In “Medical Record, vol 35” by George Frederick Shrady and Thomas L. Stedman, 1889, page 438 is quoted a work from 1548 describing the qualifications of a surgeon…. “lays much stress upon the natural, moral and physical qualifications of the man…. 'Upon this pynt al Authors doo agree that a Chirurgeon should be chosen by his complexion [natural temperament] and that his complexion be very temperate and al his members wel proportioned.' It is also insisted that the surgeon 'be a good liver and a keeper of the holy commandments of God.' It is agreed by 'al Authors that his body not be quaking, and his hands stedfast, his fingers long and smal, and not trembling; and that he left hand be as ready as his right hande, with al his lymmes able to fulfil the good workes of the soule.' To be perfect in his art, Mr. Vicary notes, 'foure things moste specially that every chirurgeon ought to have: The first that he be learned; the second, that he be expert; the third, that he be ingenious; the fourth, that he be wel manered.” The learning that Vicary advises is 'the principles of Chirurgie and Physicke, natural Philosophy, Grammar, Rhetoricke, and Anatomie.' The surgeon, he says, 'must be no spouse-breaker or drunkard.'

In The development of gynæcological surgery and instruments, by James Vincent Ricci, Blakinston, 1949, page 191, in quoting a much earlier book, a surgeon is described getting ready for an operation. “I would that the Chirurgeons would not shew themselves to their Patients, 'till the Moment appointment for the Operation; and that lal things which … were ready prepar'd, in order to spare him the sight of those Prepartives, which only inspire him with a Horror for those who make them. Waht ought to be observ'd during the Operation is particularly what we call the Modus Faciendi, or manner of Performance; which consists in the actual Practice of all the Rules in the Case under hand which Art directs, discharing the Chururgeon's whole Duty with Sweetness, Address, Neatness, and nice Exactness. I would the have him affable to his Patient, that he encourage and hearten him, that he participate of his Affliction, and promise to put him to the least Pain possible. A Chirurgeon must be naturally dextrous in Operation, and that Address must be back'd with great Experience in his Profession; whence he should learn how to place his subject, to chuse the most proper Instruments, to invent new ones in particular Cases, and to make sure of them in such a manner as shall contribute  as much to the easing of the Patient, as to the Satisfaction of the Spectators…. Tho' the Operation be finished, the Chirurgeon's part is not discharg'd, if he does not remedy the Disorders which it might have caus'd; the principal of which is the Loss of Blood, which ought to be immediately stopp'd by the Means which Art directs…the Wound must be dress'd, a Tent or dry Plegets, or those charg'd with some Medicament accordingly as the Nature of the Malady requires, then a Plaister, a Boulster and proper Bandage; After which, the Chururgeon is to consider the Situation, in which to place the sort Part, so as to give the Patient the least Pain, and that he may be the least oppressed…and in the alst place, 'tis proper for the Chirurgeon to instruct the Nurse, and those about the Patient, in their Duty, recommend Repose to the Patient, and oblige him to set himself at Rest, with the hopes of an expeditious and perfect Cure; and last of all, when he leaves him, to assure him that the Operation, which he has just perform'd was the only way of restoring his health.

***ADDITIONAL READING***

–That Quacking Sound in Colonial America–

-Quackery: Webster's Quotations–

Posted in New Hampshire Glossary | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

New Hampshire’s Billet-Doux Season

Posted on 6 February, 2011 by Janice Brown

Some claim that New Hampshirites are as emotionally frosty as their winter weather.

Quite to the contrary our men-folk have managed to woo, wow, wed (although possibly a few of the women took the lead), and procreate–resulting in a general increase in the population of New Hampshire. It would be difficult to say with any certainty when the very first New Hampshire valentine was presented, or if it had any impact on the wooing and wedding.

What IS known is that some residents in colonial New Hampshire were probably celebrating Valentine’s Day to some extent even in the 18th century as is shown by the following newspaper articles and advertisements.  On January 14, 1799 the Farmer’s Weekly Museum newspaper (of Walpole NH) printed a poem entitled, “Pairing Time Anticipated,” by William Cowper about birds pairing and mating.  The 11th-14th lines note:
“The birds, conceiving a design
To forestall sweet St. Valentine,
In many an orchard, copse, and grove,
Assembled on affairs of love”

By 1828 the Portsmouth Journal was heralding a new book by Sir Walter Scott entitled, “St. Valentine’s Day, or the Fair Maid of Perth” describing it as ‘romance from his magical pen.’

Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of The Ladies Magazine, advertised the contents of her February 1829 edition that included an article called “The Valentine.”

The day before Valentine’s Day in 1830, the Portsmouth Journal and Rockingham Gazette republished an entire poem dedicated to the topic of Valentines Day. One may guess from the title, that it was probably written with tongue in cheek.
EXPECTORATION
For the Fourteenth of February
All hail to the billet doux season.
 When Cupid throws off his disguise–
When rhymes have the value of reason,
 And the pen speaks the language of eyes.
To day’s the fourteenth of February.
 Most lovers are joyous and gay,
And some, sentimentally merry,
 Because it is Valentine’s day.

My pen I have dipped in the standish
 My paper is colure de-rose,
My verse is a little outlandish,
 But love prompts–so here goes,
I scarcely know whom to begin with,
 My heart has so off been astray,
So many sweet girls fallen in with,
 I am puzzled on Valentine’s day.

There is Laura the graceful and witty,
 Though some thing she is a coquette,
E’en her ‘good natured friends’ say she’s pretty;
 But–she likes every year a new pet,
She flatters her lovers most sweetly,
 Compliments in a natural way,
And dupes e’en the wisest completely,
 Except–on St. Valentine’s day.

There is Edith in person majestic,
 Grand outline of figure and tall,
But of late she’s grown very domestic,
 And don’t go to parties at all.
With her lofty agreeable manner,
 She over a number bears sway,
But was too many troops round her banner,
 To be rhymed to, on Valentine’s day.

There’s Clara she’s worth thirty thousand,
 Reads Italian, makes mottoes, can sing;
But she tries for two string to her bows, and
 Has often two beaux to her string.
Her tongue’s a perpetual motion,
 E’en in sleep it ne’er ceased to play;
Such a talent as that, I’ve a notion,
 Can’t be praise’d on St. Valentine’s day.

There is Agnes, she’s quite literary,
 ‘Tis thought she’s a bit of a blue;
She grows philosophical–very–
 And writes pretty poetry too.
But somehow, such women are duller
 At home–when abroad, they display,
And of stockings, the azure’s no colour
 To think of, on Valentine’s day.

Sprightly Jane, is “a limb” of a romper,
 As flighty as e’er was March hare.
Silent Ann, stands in need of a prompter,
 Notwithstanding her sensible air,
Joanna, so tall and so haughty,
 Is engaged to be married they say;
And Louise, I fear you’re too naughty,
 And cross, for St. Valentine’s day.

Augusta is quite too precocious,
 luclin’d to be flippant and quick;
Fair Margaret, a pretty foot shows us,
 What a pity her hearing is ‘thick.’
Ianthe is handsome and careless,
 Her shoes, and her manner distrait,
She will probably wed, (she’s an heiress,)
 Ere the next coming Valentine’s day.

Thus then I have run the list over,
 Of many flirtations now past,
And assuming the serious Lover,
 I come to thee, Mary, at last,
The snow-drop, beneath its cold whiteness,
 Doth naught of its beauty betray,
Till the sun shining out in his brightness,
 Its mantle of flakes melt away.

My love, like the beautiful flower,
 Exists, though conceal’d by the snow–
If transplanted it were to thy bower,
 ‘Twould soon in luxuriance grow.
Your dark eyes so brilliantly beaming,
 Would light, life, and warmth then convey,
From sorrow, and sadness redeeming
 Your Lover, on Valentine’s day.   V.C.
[From: Portsmouth Journal of Literature and Politics, published as The Portsmouth Journal and Rockingham Gazette; Date: 02-13-1830; Volume: XLI; Issue: 7; Page: [1]; Location: Portsmouth, New Hampshire; FROM the Albany Times and Writer.]

By the year 1847 it is obvious that Valentine notes, poems and painted cards are becoming popular, as George Tilden of Keene NH advertises them in the New Hampshire Sentinel newspaper.
St. Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14th
JUST received, a beautiful assortment of VALENTINES–all kinds and prices–suitable for Ladies or Gentlemen.  Also, Envelopes and Valentine Writers.  GEO. TILDEN.  Keene, Feb 8, 1847.

Between 1853-1856 the existence of newspaper advertising demonstrates that other stores in East Wilton and Amherst New Hampshire also offer Valentines.

Today cupid’s arrow may be covered with snow on Valentine’s Day, but it still finds its target.  Did you know that 3 percent of people give cards to their pets? The 2005 U.S. Census Report estimates that New Hampshire is home to approximately 263,253 dogs and 285,910 cats, not to mention, birds, reptiles, horses, et al.  That’s alot of billet-doux!

—ADDITIONAL READING—

*History.com: Valentines Day*

*How to Celebrate a Happy Valentine’s Day 2008*

*A holiday of consumerism: Valentine’s Day Stats*

Posted in History, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment